Eternal Bonds
by Y3d594F8d594897w
Summary: The start of Cynthia's journey, as well as another journey, and the origin of Team Galactic. T for small amounts of cursing.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

If anyone would have looked into the cave in the center of Celestic Town that night, they would have seen a small figure sitting on the ground near the deepest part of the cave, holding a tiny flashlight at an odd angle. They probably would not have seen that it was a young girl, with curly blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, and that her flashlight pointed toward the ground because her eyes were closed, and the flashlight had been forgotten.

"I hear you. I'll remember this. I promise, I'll always remember this!" the girl whispered as solemnly as one so young could. At least, it might have been a whisper. Even she wasn't quite sure whether the words had been spoken out loud.

She then rose, switched off the flashlight, and walked away. Behind her, three spots on the wall glowed faintly, so faintly that they were almost invisible even in the darkness.

By this slight light, even the most careful of observers would not have seen a smaller figure follow her away from the cave.


	2. Reunion

One boy ran through the mists of Route 210, ignoring the shouts of Trainers looking for a battle. His green vest was tattered and ripped, his black jeans were covered in mud, and several tufts of messy blonde hair poked out from under his cap.

A Noctowl flew beside him, occasionally flapping it's wings to fan away the deep fog. Even at fourteen, Palmer was obviously a Trainer.

He heard another shout from the side of the rocky trail, but didn't realize that it wasn't another challenge until a young girl ran toward him, calling his name. Palmer waved to his younger sister, and grabbed a Pokeball off his belt.

"You've got your Pokemon with you, right, Cynthia?" he asked, grinning. Cynthia nodded, and pulled a Luxury Ball out of her pocket.

"Then let's battle, I want to see how good you are now!" Palmer yelled, and tossed the Pokeball high into the air. As it landed, a Charmeleon was released. Cynthia sent out a Gible, and waited for Palmer's attack. She remembered his style, and Charmeleon, his starter, would probably have mastered it.

"Charmeleon, use Swords Dance and then Dragon Claw!" Palmer yelled to his Pokemon. Charmeleon immediately began to use Swords Dance, and Cynthia silently watched it, waiting for the right moment. Charmeleon leapt up moments later ready to slash at Gible.

"Gible, use Sand Attack!" Cynthia shouted, and Gible kicked a wave of dirt at the lizard Pokemon, dodging as Charmeleon swerved past it and struck the ground, one claw stuck. "Now use Sand Tomb!"

Charmeleon was immobilized by the combination attack for a moment, but quickly broke free of the sand swirling around it.

"Now, Charmeleon! Use Dragon Claw again!" Palmer yelled to his Pokemon, and Charmeleon charged toward Gible, striking the smaller dragon with a shining claw and knocking it aside.

"Gible, get up, use Sand Tomb again!" Cynthia urged, but Gible lay motionless.

"Cyn, Gible's Knocked Out. The battle's over, unless you have any other Pokemon." Palmer explained calmly. Cynthia shook her head sadly, and returned Gible to it's Pokeball.

"It's okay, Cyn. You did an amazing job of analyzing my strategy and countering it effectively. My Pokemon were just stronger, that's all." Palmer told her, upset by his sister's disappointment. Cynthia merely nodded again.

"Where's everyone else, anyway?" he asked, trying to cheer her up.

"Back at home, I think. Where else would they be?" she answered dully.

"Let's go, then!" Palmer answered, momentarily giving up on Cynthia's mood. He began running toward Celestic Town again, Charmeleon following behind him.

He could hear Cynthia following him, but decided to ignore it. She had always been easily upset by losing.

As he entered the town, Palmer looked around for a long moment. It had been two years since he last returned, and yet everything still looked so familiar. It was still home, just as much as ever. He smiled at the thought. How could it not be? Celestic Town had hardly changed in centuries. A couple of years weren't about to make a difference.

"Excuse me, mister, but who are you?" a small voice asked, and he looked down to see a small boy standing next to him. Smaller, but so similar, Palmer thought, remembering how he had looked at that age.

"Hi, ... Corion?" he asked the child, guessing that it was his youngest brother. The boy cocked his head to one side, clearly analyzing Palmer.

"Yes..." he answered slowly and cautiously.

"What, don'tcha remember me? It's me, Palmer." the older boy explained, a playful tone deliberately covering his sadness. They've all grown up so much... I should come back more often. It's not fair to stay away from home so long my own siblings don't know me, he thought.

"Oh. Hiya, I suppose." Corion answered dubiously. Palmer could understand his confusion. What did one say to a brother one hardly knew?

Cynthia reappeared behind him, still looking lost and confused.

"Corion, what's wrong?" she asked, oblivious to the awkward nature of the situation.

"Nothing, I guess. Nothing's wrong..." Corion muttered, and kicked at the ground. "But this guy's weird..." he said quietly, apparently only intending for Cynthia to hear him. Cynthia merely adopted an even more confused expression, and walked away toward the Pokemon Center.

As soon as she entered, a boy who appeared to be nine or so ran out, and charged toward Palmer, grinning absurdly. He had similarly colored hair, and was dressed almost exactly the same way as Palmer.

"Didja bring back more Pokemon?" he asked enthusiastically. Palmer grinned. In his travels across Kanto and Hoenn, he had often encountered Pokemon rarely seen in Sinnoh, and always caught several to give to his younger siblings.

"Yup, sure did." Palmer answered, and headed for the Pokemon Center himself, gesturing for the two younger boys to follow.

Cynthia was still inside, sitting on one of the cushions in the lobby while waiting for her Gible to be healed. She did not even glance at Palmer, until she thought he wasn't looking. He pretended he hadn't seen her tear-filled eyes flick toward him, and walked toward the computer in the corner. Typing in his trainer ID, name, and password, he activated the Pokemon Storage System, and selected three Pokemon.

As the Pokeballs materialized, he handed one to each of the boys, and walked toward Cynthia. She turned away, but Palmer pressed the Pokeball into her hand.

"You didn't fail. It was more than I could have expected." he murmured, and turned back to the other two.

Corion released his Pokemon, a Growlithe, immediately. When he saw the small puppy Pokemon, he leaped into the air and whooped, earning them several irritated looks.

"What did you get, Kerys?" he asked joyfully, poking his older brother. "I betcha mine's better than yours!"

Kerys opened his, and a Chikorita emerged, shaking it's leaf as if happy to be out of the capsule.

"Thank you..." Kerys muttered, and looked at Corion's Growlithe. "Yours can't be better. Pokemon are all equal." he informed Corion, giving him a arrogant look.

Palmer smiled. It was good to be home.


	3. Abandoned

Kerys silently walked outside into the cold night, still wearing his pajamas. After waiting a moment, he crept cautiously away from the house, scampering through the town to the small cave at it's heart.

A light emerged from the mouth of the cave, and Kerys quietly followed it, deep inside toward the center, where a shadow that he knew to be his sister sat silhoetted by the light of a flashlight. She sat cross-legged, head down, flashlight pointed downward.

The cold and rocky ground did not seem to bother her, so Kerys tried not to let it stop him. Settling into a similar position, he watched as Cynthia slammed one fist against the wall.

"I have to get stronger. I can't let Palmer down. I should be stronger, like he is. It's what he wants. By being such a pathetic loser, I'm failing him. I'm letting him down. What would people say if they knew that the champion of Hoenn and Sinnoh had a weakling little sister who couldn't even catch her own Pokemon?" Kerys heard her whisper, sobbing.

"No! I won't be weak anymore! I'll be worthy of him. I'll be worthy of you! Just wait, I will be." Cynthia cried, rising to her feet. Kerys backed up against the wall, making himself as hard to see as he could, then waited for Cynthia to run back out. He followed, careful to stay hidden, but not before glancing back at the walls of the cave, at the faint light emanating from the carving in the back.

Cynthia ran back into their house, and Kerys saw her grab the Pokeball that Palmer had given her the day before, as well as the one containing her Gible. She pulled a large backpack from a corner of the small room, and stowed both Pokeballs in it.

"I've gotta do this. I'll never get strong enough here." she whispered, and slung the backpack over her shoulders. "Everyone in my family but me is a great Trainer. I can't disappoint them by being too weak to follow in their footsteps."

As Kerys backed away from the doorway, Cynthia walked out, and headed outside. Kerys continued to trail her, confused, until she came to the entrance of Celestic Town.

There the fog grew too heavy for him to see through, and he sat down at the very edge of where the mists began, as close as he could be to his sister, and began to cry. He had always considered Cynthia his protector, his guardian. And now she was gone.

As the sun crept over the horizon, Kerys heard footsteps approaching from behind him, but ignored them until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Palmer asker, but it sounded as if he already knew the answer. Kerys sniffed once and nodded. The two were silent for a moment, then Kerys turned to face his older brother.

"You knew all along, didn't you? You knew." he asked, tone accusatory.

Palmer glanced down, then nodded.

"Yes, I had a feeling she would leave today." he admitted.

"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you stop her?" Kerys murmured.

"I... Ker, Cynthia was going to leave eventually, no matter what any of us did or said. She's a skilled Trainer, whether or not she knows it herself, and staying here would only frustrate her. I'm sorry, but it was inevitable." Palmer explained, and got up slowly, as if his younger brother was a magnet, holding him to the ground.

"You're leaving too, aren't you!" Kerys shouted, also standing up.

"Yeah, kid. I'm a Trainer too, remember? I gotta head out again. Kerys, I know it hurts, but face it. You had known all along that Cyn would leave someday. You knew I wasn't gonna stay long, either." Palmer said, then walked out into the fog.

"Say 'bye to Corion for me." he called back as he tossed Noctowl's Pokeball into the air, and then vanished from sight.

Kerys watched silently as Palmer left. His brother was right, of course; Kerys had known. He thought the words, then spoke them, but silently, as if hearing them would have confirmed a truth that he refused to acknowledge.

Turning back from the fog, he walked away.

"They've abandoned me here. They're gone, and not coming back." he whispered, as he retreated back inside, as if hiding from the though


	4. Fight or Flight

Kerys slammed the door behind him, scrunching up his face in an attempt to not cry. He walked to a corner of the room and crouched there, sniffling.

"Ker? Whatsa matter?" asked the childish voice of his younger brother. Kerys looked up to see Corion's huge brown eyes inches away from his own. Panicking, Kerys shoved the younger boy away from him and stood immediately, backing up against the wooden wall.

"They've left. They're both gone!" he yelled quickly, holding one hand out in front of him as if for protection against some invisible threat. Corion merely lay on the ground where he had been knocked over and wailed.

"Whatever happened here?" a harsh, quieter voice asked, and Kerys saw, out of the corner of his eye, an old woman with a stern, wrinkled face approaching.

"Gramma 'Lena, 'e hit me!" Corion cried, his sobbing growing even louder.

"Oh, now did he..." the old woman muttered angrily, then turned toward Kerys. "Kerys Acetel, whatever possessed you to do a thing like that?"

"But, Grandma Alena, it's not my fault! He just came up and started screaming in my face!" Kerys mumbled, even more annoyed at his brother than before.

"And was that a good reason for you to hit him?" Alena scolded, helping Corion to his feet. The younger boy had stopped crying, and was now glaring silently at Kerys.

"No," Kerys groaned, rolling his eyes. And I don't care, he added silently.

"Now then, what's all this about someone being gone?" Alena asked, her tone impatient.

"Cynthia left! Cynthia left, and Palmer left again too, and they're not coming back again for years!" Kerys shouted, finally bursting into tears.

"Cynthia left? That girl's not old enough to be out on her own yet... Kerys, why didn't you tell someone?" Alena said, and Corion resumed his bawling.

"I just did tell you!" Kerys protested, but was quickly interrupted.

"No, impudent child. Why did you not fetch an adult at the time? Good grief, boy, do you want your sister to be hurt?" Alena told him, furious.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Kerys screamed, grabbing the Pokeball that he still had in his pocket and calling out Chikorita. The small Pokemon shook the leaf on it's head angrily, and Kerys balled his hands into fists, his posture defensive, as if the two of them were being attacked.

"Calm down, boy. You and your overly excitable Pokemon both. Go tell the neighbors what happened. We'd better start searching for the girl..." Alena ordered, pulling on a long white coat and walking outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was late afternoon when Cynthia finally found her way out of the deep mists of Route 210. She had wandered blindly through the fog since before dawn, barely able to see her hands in front of her face, running straight into no less than three trainers, who had all demanded that she battle them. The Pokemon that Palmer had given to her the day before, a Feebas, was knocked out, and Gible soon would be.

If Cynthia weren't as tired, she might have jumped for joy at the sight of the small cafe almost right in front of her. As it was, she simply smiled slightly and trudged a little faster toward it.

Perfect, she thought wryly. Now, of course, something else will have to go wrong. Nothing else seemed to happen, though, so she quickly skittered toward the small building, glancing around nervously to make sure there were no more Trainers or wild Pokemon around.

As soon as she got inside, Cynthia sunk down into one of the small chairs, intending only to rest for a moment.

"Hey, kiddo, you okay? Lemme guess, just got through Route 210?" a waitress asked, peering critically at Cynthia, who merely nodded.

"Hold on just a sec," the waitress told her, and walked off before Cynthia could say anything. "Here ya go, nice cold Moomoo Milk," she said a moment later, appearing out of nowhere behind Cynthia again, and setting several bottles of milk on the table in front of Cynthia.

"How much?" Cynthia asked, pulling a small coin pouch out of her bag. The waitress shook her head.

"Naw, it's on the house. Ya look like ya need it," she answered.

"No. How much?" Cynthia asked again.

"Not a penny. If ya won't take it fer yerself, take it fer yer Pokemon," the waitress said firmly, walking away again and leaving Cynthia with the milk. Cynthia sighed, and stuffed the bottles of milk in her bag.

Just as she was about to leave, the door of the cafe opened, and a man with vivid orange hair and an absurdly colorful outfit burst in. Cynthia turned to look at him, and noticed that several others did the same. The man smiled, clearly expecting the response, but Cynthia in particular seemed to catch his eye. He winked at one of the waitresses, who blushed and hurried off, then plunked down into the chair across from Cynthia.

Cynthia glared at him, and grabbed her bag, but he stopped her.

"It's alright, stay awhile," he said calmly, then gazed at her, analyzing her. "New trainer, huh? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Cynthia insisted, getting up.

"Are your Pokemon ready to battle?" he persisted.

"No..." Cynthia admitted sheepishly. He pulled several Revives from a pocket and handed them to her, winking again. "No, I really don't need-" Cynthia protested, but was interrupted.

"Then give them to someone who does."

"Just who do you think you are, anyway?" she complained. "You're in my way, I don't have time for this..." Cynthia trailed off. The man's face had fallen, and he looked downright glum. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled, ashamed.

"You've never heard of the Champion?" he asked in mock amazement, but there was an undertone of disappointment in his voice.

"You're Teroel Andze?" she asked scornfully.

"The one and only!" he shouted, holding up his Trainer ID card. Cynthia noted that he looked remarkably similar to the immature protagonist of a popular cartoon show that she had watched as a child. She stared at him for a moment, embarrassed and disappointed.

As he put the card away, seemingly flustered by her lack of a response, Cynthia looked at him more carefully, searching for some sign of intelligence.

Spiked orange hair, sparkling amber eyes, black suit, red and yellow cape made with overlapping layers of nylon and an uneven edge, probably designed to look like fire.

Cynthia sighed. The very definition of immaturity, she thought. How could the champion of Sinnoh be a man like this?

Apparently, Andze was confused by her disdain.

"Come now, we were having a fine conversation. No need to start this hero-worship nonsense." he said cheerfully. The waitress he had winked at before, still blushing, handed him a bottle of milk, then scurried off again.

"Hero-worship?! I'd have more respect for the backside of a Skuntank than for you!" Cynthia sputtered, furious, but Andze merely smiled in a way that he probably thought charming, and left. Cynthia, still fuming, got up to leave.

But before she did so, she dropped a couple of coins of the table to pay for the milk.


	5. No Going Back

"You okay, Kerys?" Jen, 15-year-old resident of Celestic Town, and something of a mentor to Kerys, asked kindly.

"I'm just sleepy. I think I was awake all night," the younger boy muttered.

"Bet your parents wouldn't like that! Don't worry, I'm just kidding. I'm not gonna tell," Jen teased. "But seriously, Kerys, you gotta wake up and think. You probably know more about why your sister left that any of the rest of us, where do you think she'd go?"

Kerys only took a moment to think before answering.

"Where do you go to become an official Pokemon Trainer?"

"In the Sinnoh region, Jubilife," Jen answered. "You think that's where she was going?"

"I know that's where she was going." Kerys insisted.

"Well, if that's the case, she'll pass through Solaceon, probably, which is where we're headed anyway," one of the adults remarked.

"Why did Cinny go away?" Corion asked, sniffling, from behind Kerys.

"Because she wants to become a great Trainer like Palmer is," Kerys explained patiently for what felt like the thousandth time. Still, he felt genuinely sorry for hitting the younger boy, and wanted to compensate for it.

"But why can't she be a Pokeymon trainer here?" Corion whined, beginning to cry again. As always. Kerys rolled his eyes, and refused to answer.

"There, we're turning around!" he heard Alena yell triumphantly from the front of the small group.

"What? But we haven't found her yet!" someone else yelled back.

"I never intended to find her, you lackwit! If Cynthia got this far without trouble, then she'll be fine on her own!" Alena shouted.

"You mean you dragged us out here for nothing?" a man complained, and others followed his lead, chiming in with protests of their own.

"Of course!" Kerys' grandmother called, and turned to hike back to Celestic, amid a chorus of groans.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was around 2 in the afternoon when Cynthia finally reached Solaceon Town. Probably, she thought, all those farms were officially a part of Solaceon, but it hadn't felt like a town then, just the middle of nowhere. As far as she could tell. it was relatively similar to Celestic Town, but the houses were farther apart, there was a small, rustic-looking PokeMart, and the people seemed a bit more relaxed, somehow. Immediately, Cynthia headed for the Pokemon Center, quietly placing her two Pokeballs on the machine near the entrance. The display screen flashed twice, indicating that both Gible and Feebas were fully healed. Then a message replaced it; "SCAN TRAINER CARD OR PAY P300."

Cynthia sighed, then inserted a few coins into the machine. Trainers were normally granted free use of Pokemon Centers, due to their protection of small towns, and the more severe injuries that their Pokemon received. Until she reached Jubilife, and was issued an official Trainer ID, though, Cynthia would have to pay any time she needed to heal her Pokemon.

Grumbling slightly, she left the Center. As soon as she did, an old man leaning on a rickety fence nearby yelled something toward her. Confused, she looked around. No one else seemed to think he might be calling to them.

"Hey, Trainer!" the man shouted again. Now everyone turned to stare at Cynthia.

"Me?" she asked timidly, utterly perplexed. "But I'm not..."

Her voice trailed off. The old man nodded.

"Yeah, you. I got yer Pokeman raht here," he said, shoving a Pokeball toward her. Cynthia didn't take it.

"Ain't this yer-" he started to say. "Oh, I'm sorry, missie. Guess I mistook ya for somebody else. Ya haven't seen a boy prolly a li'l bit older than you, wit long blond hair and a green vest, have ya? He came through 'ere 'bout a week ago, and gave me this here Pokeman to raise for 'im. Only, I can't stand the critter. Scares the jeepers outta me," he explained.

"That sounds like he might have been my brother, Palmer," Cynthia mumbled shyly, not quite sure she understood what the man had said.

"Oh, is it? Yer brudda? Well, you just see that he gets it back now, okay?" he told her, tossing the Pokeball at her and walking away quickly. Cynthia trotted after him.

"Look, I really-" she started to say, but he interrupted again.

"No, really, I'm real grateful to ya for gettin' it outta my way. Say, whereabouts are ya headed?"

"Well, I was going to Jubilife, but..." Cynthia said reluctantly, unable to come up with a good excuse to get away.

"That's a fair ways... I got it! Johnny! Git out here, Johnny!" the old man shouted. A teenage boy with uneven, messy tan hair slunk out of the nearest house, looking more than a little frustrated.

"What, Paw?" he grumbled, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Friend here needs a lift to Jub'life," the older man said tersely. The boy nodded, and tossed a Great Ball into the air, releasing a large Staravia.

"But... I... I really didn't..." Cynthia stammered helplessly.

"'Fraid of heights? Don' worry, Speckle here's real careful," the teenager said, patting the Pokemon's head. It spread it's wings, then took off, grabbing Cynthia's arms in it's claws. A rather awkward and uncomfortable hour or so later, it dropped her in front of an unfamiliar Pokemon Center, then left before she could even thank the strange boy.


	6. When It Begins

Cynthia looked around, dazed. Jubilife was _enormous_. She had seen skyscrapers in photographs, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of disorientation when she looked upward, searching for the sky. The people were all dressed much differently than anyone from Celestic, and shouting, car horns, and TV advertisments blurring into a meaningless racket. The streets, sidewalks, and the high-tech Pokemon Center were cluttered with cars, bicycles, people, and Pokemon.

"It's so _big_... How am I supposed to find the Trainer's Center in all this?" Cynthia wondered out loud.

"Get outta the way!" someone shouted, and a man on a bicycle zoomed past her. Cynthia realized that she had been standing dumbstruck on the sidewalk in front of the Pokemon Center without paying a bit of attention to her surroundings.

"Sorry!" she hollered back, and started walking along the sidewalk. I'm sure to get there eventually, she thought.

"Hey, kid, you lost? Where are your parents?" a grouchy-looking man yelled from the open window of a car, which slowed to a halt. "If you're going to meet them somewhere, or you're looking for something, I can probably give you directions."

Cynthia shook her head resolutely. She could find her way around. It was just a matter of time, that was all. The man started to say something else, but then the car behind him honked several times, and he drove off, leaving Cynthia hacking and coughing.

Still, Cynthia thought, people are starting to get annoyed with me. I better _look_ like I know where I'm going, at least.

She set off walking down the sidewalk, carefully considering which way to turn, until someone bumped against her and grunted loudly.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." Cynthia stammered, turning to face the person she must have bumped into.

It was a girl about Palmer's age, with an angular, critical-looking face. Her hair was brushed to one side assymetrically, and was pale violet with silver highlights. Her oddly formal clothes were all the same shade of... what was it? Blue, violet, silver? Cynthia finally decided on lavender.

"...You aren't from around here, are you?" the girl asked. She spoke with an unfamiliar accent. "If you're going to register as an official Trainer, you'll want to head for the Trainer's Center. It's straight down that road, on the left." the girl explaned emotionlessly, as if it was an everyday occurence.

Cynthia, not about to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, scampered off in the indicated direction.

Within a few minutes she was standing in front of a huge building with the words "Trainer's Center" and several welcome messages scrolling across a screen at the top.

Well, here goes nothing, she thought, as she walked through the automatic door.

Inside, she was no less confused. There were several long lines of at least a hundred people, apparently all for different things. Trying not to call any more attention to herself, Cynthia quietly wandered around until she spotted a sign reading "New Trainer Application" hanging above one of the lines, and quickly made her way to what seemed like the end.

Two hours later, she was handed a long form, and let into a small, cold room with no furnishing other than a small desk and chair. Grabbing the pen that had fallen to the floor, she spent another fifteen minutes filling out a lot of seemingly useless information and reading mostly incomprehensibly legal agreements. Standing up, she looked around for what to do with the completed form. Right on cue, a middle-aged woman with shockingly red hair stepped through the curtained doorway and held out an open hand to take it. Quickly and efficiently, her eyes scanned over the form, and she nodded curtly.

"We'll have to check a few records, but this is all that's necessary for now. You'll be contacted by phone if there's a problem," she stated tonelessly. Cynthia followed her back outside, and was handed a Trainer Card, then pointed down another line. At the end of that one, a machine displayed images and basic information on three Pokemon: Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig.

Turtwig seemed a bit surly-looking, and she already had a Water-type. Scrolling through the data on Chimchar, she was reminded of Palmer's Charmeleon, which had been his own starter. Finally, she pressed a button the touch screen to choose Chimchar, and a Poke Ball shot out of the bottom.

"This is it. This is when it begins," Cynthia whispered. "I am now truly a Pokemon Trainer."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kerys woke up immediately, with the feeling that something was wrong. He glanced at his clock. It was 1:52 AM. Silently, he crept to the door, and opened it slightly to listen. Someone was shouting, although he couldn't hear the words.

"...another of my children... this Pokemon shit... " they yelled.

The door opened further, bumping Kerys. He looked down to see Corion's narrow face, stained with tears. Kerys pulled the door open, and hugged his younger brother.

"What's happening?" he whispered, nudging Corion inside.

"Mommy and Daddy are arguing. Daddy doesn't want Cynthia to be gone." Corion sniffled, lowering his own voice in imitation.

"It'll be okay, Corion. Nothing bad's going to happen." he assured Corion, though he didn't really believe his own words. Don't make a liar of me, Dad, Kerys thought. If I've lied to Corion now because of you, I'll never forgive you.

He could still hear the shouting, now growing louder and more angry, but tried to ignore it. Corion was clinging to him, trembling, and he had to seem calm and in control, or else the younger boy would notice that he was scared too, and wouldn't stop crying.

Finally, Corion fell asleep, sitting on the cold wooden floor with him. Kerys wasn't strong enough to move him, but he tucked a blanket around Corion's small form, and sat on the bed to wait. He was desperately tired from staying up for so long, but he had promised Corion that nothing bad would happen, and he was going to do whatever it took to ensure it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lindsey watched helplessly as Kerys held tightly to Corion. The two boys were both clearly scared, but she could tell that Kerys was trying to appear brave. Their father advanced on them, and roughly pulled Kerys away from his brother.

"You look here, son. I'm going, and you're coming with me, and I'm not gonna take this shit from you!" he shouted furiously at Kerys, who he was nearly dragging out the door.

"I'm not afraid of you. You can't bully me. You listen here, I don't care how angry you are or why, because it doesn't matter. You think you're the only one who cares about Cynthia? Think again. I don't care that you're angry, because you're hurting Corion, because he's a little kid and loves you, even when you're being this stupid, even though if he knew better he wouldn't. Stop being selfish and do what's right for him, or you're not a real man," Kerys yelled back, his voice cracking.

He knew it was the wrong thing to say, knew from experience that insulting his father would just make things worse, but Kerys had to say it because he had to do everything he could to keep his promise to Corion.

Then Corion screamed, because Kerys had been knocked over before either of them could even think about what he had said, and while Lindsey was comforting Corion, Kerys was forced into the backseat of the small car and taken away, and Lindsey was left holding the last of her children left at home.

"I never did like him," Alena remarked gruffly, walking up to them now that the conflict was over.

"Perhaps, Mother, you knew him better than I," Lindsey answered sadly.


End file.
